1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to tracking and locating objects and people. More specifically, the invention relates to a device and method for monitoring, tracking and locating an object or person, such as a child.
2. General Background and Related Art
Sometimes, when subjected to some adult activities such as shopping, a child may become curious or restless. The child may have a tendency to wander. In a matter of seconds, while the parent or guardian is distracted, a child can move quickly out of sight and become lost. In most instances, the child is nearby but merely out of sight, however, in other cases, the child may be placed into danger.
To this end, monitoring and locating devices are used to quickly locate lost children. Some types of monitoring and locating devices, usually the wireless applications of the devices, include a transmitter which is positioned on the child such as, for example, around their wrist or ankle. The transmitter transmits location signals. Typically, a parent or guardian uses a receiver to receive the transmitted location signals from the child's transmitter to locate the transmitted signal, which in turn, leads them to their lost child.
In some cases, a number of such wireless devices may be used within close proximity of other similar devices, such as, for example, in a shopping mall or an amusement park. In these cases, interference among the devices may be possible, which would render the devices inoperable and useless in locating lost children.
Consequently, there exists a need in the art to provide a monitoring and locating device capable of monitoring and locating an object or person, as well as being able to operate in close proximity to other monitoring and locating devices.
The inventions claimed and/or described herein provide a tracking device which comprises one or more portable remote units (child units) and a control unit (parent unit) in radio frequency communication with each of the child units. The control unit is adapted to assign and transmit an individual identifier to each portable remote unit. The parent unit is constructed and arranged to continuously monitor each of the child units by transmitting and receiving signals to each of the child units using the individual identifiers assigned thereto.
The parent unit can be used with a single child unit or multiple child units, each having a unique identifier. A plurality of operating channels can be used and methods are explained for selecting an operating channel for a particular parent-child unit pair. These methods generally include a scheme for stepping incrementally through one or more available channels of a particular frequency band, with each of the plurality of channels having a numbered sequence. A plurality of channels can be stepped through in sequential order from a lowest numbered channel of the sequence to a highest numbered channel of the sequence. Or other channel stepping techniques can be used. Stepping through channels can be repeated as needed. Another possible approach includes hopping randomly through the sequence of channels based at least in part on a predetermined algorithm. Such algorithm might be, for example, to selected a channel from the a t low, mid or high portion of a frequency band.
Other aspects, features and advantages of the inventions claimed and/or described herein will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.